CNN Closes Out October Off The List Of Top 30 Cable Channels

We’ve written about CNN’s ratings drop in October, specifically in prime time.

Using another metric, it was made even more clear – in the final week of October, CNN did not crack the top 30 cable networks in prime time.

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For the first time in more than two years, CNN fell out of the top 30 cable channels last week in prime time (total viewers). Fox News ranked 3rd, behind USA and ESPN, while MSNBC was 26th. It was the 43rd consecutive week Fox News finished in the top 5 cable channels in prime time.

In total day, FNC was #5, CNN #27 and MSNBC #31.

CNN has pressed that prime time is just one of many metrics the network uses to measure audience data. And that’s true. But seeing the network dip out of the top 30 for the first time in years is a telling sign something isn’t working in prime time – and it’s something that will have to be corrected to pull the network back into the top of the cable news, and general cable, ranks.